The Newcomer
by Speedyfox
Summary: When a lone explorer and fighter is stranded on an uncharted planet he fears his days may be at an end. But when the Star Fox team (now missing its one time leader and frontman, Fox) stumbles across him, he may be given a second chance. He also begins to grow quite fond of his rescuers and new friends. Especially a certain blue vixen... (Rated M for strong sexual content)
1. Chapter 1

_Hello readers! Thank you for taking the time to give my fic a look. I've never written a fanfic before (and haven't done much writing at all really) so bear with me on this one. Also if there's anything i can work to improve on in my writing constructive critisicm is welcome!_

 _Also I don't own Star Fox or any of it's characters or storyline. Rated M for strong language and sexual content that will be added in later chapters. With that I hope you all enjoy my story!_

Chapter 1

Fire shot and flashed across the sky as a ship fell from space to the surface of an unknown desert planet. The ship scorched through the air and slammed into a tall dune causing the sand to launch into the sky and rain down on the empty landscape. The momentum of the ship coming from the outside of the atmosphere was so great it took almost a full minute for all the parts to finally settle. Pieces of starship littered the ground along with the two main parts of the spacecraft. The ship lay silent, burning for minutes until there was movement... slowly a dark red and white fox clawed his way from the debris of his burning ship. Once at a safe distance a few yards away he rolled over on his back to allow himself a minute to breathe, and to accept a horrible fact... he was stranded on this planet with no means of transportation. "Of fucking course" he grumbled to himself as he sat up after a few minutes of laying on his back. He ran his paws swiftly back and fourth over his back, shoulders, and finally his face to try and brush off as much of the sand as possible but so much of it had been buried in his fur that it hardly made him feel better at all. He came to the realization that something was stinging in pain on the back of his shoulder. He ran a paw over it slowly and the stinging intensified. Letting out a soft whimper in reaction to the stinging pain he pulled his hand away from his shoulder to find that it was bleeding a good bit. He used his shirt to put pressure on the wound and to slow the blood as much as he could. There was pretty much nothing left of the shirt anyway. Whatever had cut his shoulder had torn it nearly completely off. What did cut his shoulder? What planet even is this? How long would he be stuck here? "Guess I should see if there's anything left" he said in a defeated voice as he stood to walk toward the ship.

The remains of the main briefing and navigation room where the ship had torn in half on impact was the first of the rooms he checked. The communications array was busted up pretty good. Navigation was somehow still functional and showing a small hologram of the current system and planet he was on. The lights flickered and sparks fell and sputtered out of many of the ships electronic systems. "Aurora" he spoke, then paused to await a response. "Yes commander" replied a robotic female voice over the nav system. "Systems analysis" he instructed, relieved to hear a reply. The female voice executed his instruction. "Scanning... multiple critical failures detected. Engines offline. Shields offline. Weapon systems offline. Gravity generator in need of hard reset and recalibration. Oxygen production systems partially operational." "Location" the commander inquired. "Current planetoid unknown" "unknown?" He repeated. "How?". Aurora spoke up again "current planetoid is uncharted. Likely due to its irregular orbit and very small size" "Beautiful... perfect place to crash a ship" he said while scanning his surroundings. He decided to head to the kitchen area to see if any food was still useable and to see if he could find the medkit he kept mounted on the wall in case of emergencies. Although he'd never quite planned on this type of emergency before.

The kitchen was a total loss, there was basically no food left to be salvaged save for a few bags of dried snacks and 2 bottles of water. "Better than nothing" he said as he scraped together the supplies and placed them in a small bag he found. He laid the bag next to the door so as not to forget it upon his exit. He scoured the floor and the storage bins and cabinets but not much was left. He found the first aid kit mounted on the wall opposite of the doorway, but the container it was in was shattered and its contents were strewn all over the floor. But from one of the protruding shards of the plastic container hung a stretchy linen bandage with a medicated cotton pad. "Thank god" he sighed as he reached for the bandage. He applied the cotton pad to the cut on his shoulder and wrapped the cloth around it and his arm enough times for it to hold in place. Now with two free hands he gave the room a final look over before exiting with the small bag of food and water he'd found.

His mind went to weaponry next. He'd had several run ins with unsavory characters on other planets before but was never really met with anything he couldn't handle. He headed to his locker room which held a few of his outfits and his gear. He walked up to the locker he used most frequently that held his most personal belongings like his wallet, keycard for special access points in the ship, and last but not least... his rifle. It was a short semi automatic combat rifle with a medium range scope. But it was not just some ordinary rifle... it was carbon fiber black with gold plated parts here and there on it and had an engraving on the side in a gold piece. The engraving read "Commander Rylan". He took the rifle in his hands and held it, thinking on an earlier time in life. The faces of friends he hadn't seen in years and the days and nights of combat alongside his team. "Well guys it looks like you were probably right... going out on my own might just kill me." he threw on a black shirt and his gray cargo pants, laced up a pair of work shoes, and threw the food he'd gathered in a small backpack before heading out.

"Aurora" he spoke to the computer again as he re entered the room. "Yes commander" "any signs of life on the planet?" He asked as he was adjusting his backpack. "Scanning... no life forms detected. No nearby wildlife detected. Due to lack of plant life and water it is unlikely that anything inhabits the planet." Rylan glanced at the projection of the planet. "Where's the nearest charted area?" He asked the computer. "Searching... the nearest recorded star system is not far from here. An inhabited system called the Lylat." Rylan paused for a minute, thinking of a plan.

A chill fell down Rylans spine. Night was falling quickly on the desert planet and if he didn't want to freeze to death he would have to build a fire. Luckily there was no shortage of ways to start a fire with the things he had in his pack but he needed something that would actually burn for a while. He remembered the cargo hold had several wooden crates with various things in them. Mostly scrap metal which would've been impossible to decipher from the ship at this point. To his surprise they were still there! Well mostly still there... several of them were broken and scattered about but there was easily enough pieces left to gather for a fire. He found a spot between the two halves of the crashed ship to set up for the night. After the fire was lit he felt much better. The warmth from the flames surrounded him and he was finally able to relax a bit. He laid his head back onto a bedroll he had found in the cargo hold while searching for the wood from the crates. Rylan lay silent, thinking about his situation and the plan for the next day, until finally he allowed his eyes to fall shut and after a few minutes sleep overtook him.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello again readers! im excited to get this story into full swing but have some unfortunate news. I most likely will not be posting for a few days as I am a bit busy with my real world affairs. So please be patient, stay tuned, and i will update as soon as i get a chance. Thanks again for reading my fic and enjoy the story!_

Chapter 2

BEEP BEEP... BEEP BEEP... BEEP BEEP... The sound of an alarm in the ships nav system woke Rylan from what had actually been a rather peaceful sleep. He stumbled onto his feet quickly. He stepped around the fire which was nothing but some hot coal and a flicker or two of flames now. The sun was just breaking over the horizon and would've actually been quite a sight to behold had there not been an alarm going off. He stepped into the Navigation room and saw a hologram in the middle of the control desk. The hologram was red and flashing with the tone of the alarm. "Aurora! Status report!" He barked at the computer with an impatient tone. "Multiple unknown craft en route to current location. ETA 4 minutes to atmospheric entry. 6 minutes to planetary touchdown." "How many are there?" He asked, leaning over the large circular desk in the center of the room. "Scanning... three ships. Fighter class. Small framed. Likely operated by single pilots." Rylan paused to consider his options, which were extremely limited at this time. "Can't be sure they're hostile" he said to himself. "But I can't take any chances on my own here... not without my ship" he paused for a long minute, looking over at the ships controls. The pilot and operations seats were positioned on the opposite side of the room from the hologram desk. The room was pretty much in two pieces now. He walked over to the captains seat where the main controls and system overview were. The controls and guidance computers were clearly master crafted with every last tiny detail taken into account. The panel was all black with shiny gold trim on the holo screens. At the top in gold cursive carefully etched into the panel it read "Aurora Lance". Rylan ran his hand across the etching on the panel slowly. "I'm sorry girl." He said with heavy sadness in his voice. If there was one thing Rylan truly loved in this world it was his ship. The countless hours he spent working on it, installing new parts and weapons. If he wasn't on a mission or asleep, he was working on the ship. Whether it was making repairs or performing routine maintenance. Installing a new weapon or tuning up the engines. Hell sometimes he would just sit there and look at it. Just admiring it. "I'll get you put back together... I promise" he spoke softly. "Atmospheric breach detected" Aurora spoke up, snapping Rylan out of his moping. He grabbed his rifle from the table, loaded a full magazine, and walked out of the room.

The sun outside was beaming and Rylan had to give his eyes a minute to adjust before stepping out onto the sand. He could now hear the engines of the fighter craft approaching and this made him uneasy. He quickly scanned the surrounding area for a place to hide and found a piece of the wing from the Aurora Lance jammed into the ground. He crouched with his back to the wing piece, peeking around to where the sound of the ships was coming from. Slowly the three fighters came into view, merely as dots in the sky at first but not for long as they bolted toward the wreckage of Rylans ship. The three fighter ships were all identical in design, and surprisingly impressive looking. They were white, agile, and aerodynamic looking with blue triangular parts on either side of the cockpit which appeared to be the ships engines. The uniformity and modernized look of the ships discouraged Rylan from believing he was dealing with pirates or scavengers. Nevertheless he kept his distance and practiced great caution regardless. The three ships slowed to a halt and touched down about 200 yards from the wreckage of the Aurora Lance. Rylan watched through his rifles scope at them as the cockpits slid open and three pilots exited their craft. He couldn't quite see them well from this distance but he could make out that two were about his height, and the third was only about half that tall. They seemed to communicate briefly before cautiously approaching the wreckage. When they got close to the ship Rylan could see them clearly. The smallest appeared to be a frog, one of the others was an avian, a hawk? Falcon maybe? He brushed off the details for they were rather unimportant at the time. What were they doing here? How did they know about this place? Wait... where's number 3!? Rylan had gotten so lost wondering about their intentions he hadn't noticed where the third one of the group had gone. He still had eyes on the frog and the bird, who were curiously inspecting the crash site. "Shit... where are you!?" He whispered to himself as he scanned the wreckage in a bit of a panic through the scope of his rifle. Then he heard something move a bit behind him. Before he could even react to the noise he heard a female voice.

"Drop it" she said sternly and with great command but also quietly. Rylan glanced back over his shoulder slowly, keeping the rifle aimed forward toward the other two strangers. They were clueless to the situation and continued to scour the debris. He turned to see a blue vixen standing about 10 feet from him. He was shocked. Not just from the surprise of her getting the drop on him like that but surprised at the fact that she was attractive. Hell she was downright gorgeous! But not like walking down the beach on a clear summer day gorgeous. This was more like a life or death situation and there's a woman you've never met pointing a blaster at your face gorgeous. "I'm not hurting anyone if you aren't" Rylan spoke sternly as he brought the rifle to his side. The vixen saw this and lowered her weapon as well. "Krystal we found something interesting down here" a radio she was wearing spoke out. She glanced at the radio then back at Rylan. "Yeah... me too" she replied. She reset her focus back onto Rylan. "Let's go" she said as she gestured toward the main part of the ship. It was obvious she wanted Rylan to lead so she could keep an eye on him. Even knowing this he obliged. If these people wanted him dead she could've easily had it already. He turned slowly, eyes still fixed on the vixen, and started for the main wreckage.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello everyone! Thank you all again for taking the time to read my fic and for being so patient with me as I work to keep this story updated. I have been working on my writing a bit and trying to get the new chapters put together to the best of my ability. Thanks again and enjoy the next chapter!_

Chapter 3

Rylan stepped slowly and cautiously around the debris. Sharp, jagged metal protruded from the sand everywhere. He had not even noticed how much of it he stepped over in his rush to hide from his guests. The blue vixen tailed him closely, never diverting her eyes from him. Not like keeping eyes trained on him was too awfully difficult. He was handsome and convincing with the way he carried himself. He was rather tall for a fox, he at least had a good 3 or 4 inches on Krystal anyway. He was also quite muscular... but not huge like one may expect of someone with his muscle tone. He was very lean and moved with a confidence that Krystal silently admired. They passed nearly a hundred yards of broken and twisted pieces of starship. Some still smoking with heat from the blaze of the crash the day before. By now the frog and the bird had moved to the inside of the ship. Rylan could hear muffled speaking followed by a short response from Aurora.

As Rylan passed the threshold of the navigation room the two immediately caught sight of him and drew their weapons. "Woah woah hold up pal!" The bird spoke up assertively. However at the sight of their third member tailing him into the room they eased up a bit. "Easy boys" she said in a soft tone. A tone that Rylan couldn't help but notice. She spoke as beautifully as she looked. His thoughts were quickly broken by the bird who piped up once more. "Krystal who is this?" He inquired still holding his blaster up toward Rylan. Krystal turned her head over to face Rylan. "Well we haven't even been properly introduced yet" she said placing her hands on her hips. "My name is Rylan" he spoke. He glanced at each of the strangers nervously. "This is my ship." He stated. "You pilot a starship this big with no crew!?" The toad inquired, clearly enthused. "Hey Slip how about we focus up?" Spoke the bird impatiently. The two exchanged a brief glance at one another before turning back to Rylan. "Oh... hehe... right. The names Slippy" the toad stated with a quick salute. "I'm Falco" the bird spoke out with a nod. Rylan looked to the vixen next. "Krystal" she said with a small bow.

Rylan took a short look around the room at the team. "Your computer isn't working" Falco said, breaking the short silence. He was now much more at ease and no longer had his weapon drawn. Rylan looked at Falco and then at the navigation desk in the center of the room. "Aurora". He was almost immediately answered by the computer. "Yes commander" she spoke up. Falco and Slippy shot a puzzled look at one another. Rylan let out a small chuckle before turning to Falco again. "She's fine" he assured. "You just aren't part of the registered crew. She won't give you access to anything unless you are." He looked over to Krystal who was now moving toward the center of the room. "Well it looks like you'll be needing a ride out of here." She said as she approached the nav desk. "Yeah I guess Aurora isn't in shape to get me off this planet anymore." Rylan confirmed. His tone and the way he lowered his head when he talked about it made it obvious to the team that he cared for the ship. Slippy looked up at Rylan. "There's a station with an engineering bay not far from this system. If we got the main parts to them I'm sure they could have it reassembled pretty quickly." "Sounds like a descent idea." Falco said. "But I've been wondering... how'd you even end up here? Surely a ship as well kept as this one didn't break down and crash on you."

Rylan looked down at the floor, trying to recall the details of what caused the crash. "You know I can't quite recall all of it." He began. "But I do remember looking for something... I don't remember what for sure but I'm sure it was just an old broken ship floating through space or an old space station that was abandoned." He gave a quick look to the team members. "See one of the ways I make the money to keep this ship running is that I scavenge for technology. Electronics, engine parts, hell sometimes you'll find a weapon for a ship that still works. I think I had just gotten a ping on my nav system and was headed to see what I could find... I don't know who but someone hyper jumped into range and started attacking me" "Pirates?" Krystal questioned. Rylan shook his head in response. "Never seen pirates with a ship that could perform a hyper jump." He said. "Could've stolen it though" Falco theorized, looking over at Rylan.

"Either way... I'm stuck here until I can get my ship running." Rylan said with a sigh. The team glanced around at one another. They all had the same idea at once. No discussion was needed either. "Well you could come with us." Falco suggested. "Yeah! I'm sure we could get ahold of someone willing to haul your ship to that repair station." Slippy said with a cheery tone. "Well it's always nice to help out. And we do have a room on the Great Fox you could stay in for a while. Already has most of what you'd need." Krystal said agreeing to their plan. "R.O.B. Bring the shuttle down." Slippy said into a little radio. "I appreciate this a lot guys." Rylan spoke while giving a short smile to everyone in the room. When the shuttle arrived he loaded as much of his remaining belongings from his room as he could. The crew boarded their small fighter ships once more. Rylan stepped onto the ship that the crew had called down for him. He looked to the controls to find a small robot who manned the pilots terminal. "Greetings!" the robot spouted with a friendly tone. "Hi" Rylan smiled as the bot returned to his assignment, He was instructed to follow the group of fighter craft back to the Great Fox. Rylan found a seat and placed his things on the floor next to shuttle and fighters lifted from the ground and departed the small planet.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hi everyone! Here is the next chapter of my fic. Thank you all again for sticking with this story! I'm so happy to see that there are people enjoying it. However I'm saddened to inform you that I will be going on a trip for a week this coming Thursday. I will try to get another chapter posted by then but i cannot promise it. Anyway thanks again for checking out my fic and enjoy the story!_

Chapter 4

The shuttle was cramped, and empty for the most part. R.O.B. guided the small craft behind the fighters carefully. Rylan sat watching the bot for a good while. He seemed to be in a trance as his absolutely undivided attention was on the task of tailing the crew back to their ship. The only time he ever made anything close to interaction with Rylan was simply to state "Two hours to destination: Great Fox." Then later, "Ninety minutes to destination: Great Fox." But he never once looked away from his controls. He didn't even seem to speak to Rylan really. It seemed more like he was simply confirming the time to himself out loud. Rylan considered trying to commune with him somehow but wasn't quite sure how he would go about it. Or if R.O.B. would even acknowledge his attempt at conversation. He ultimately decided against it, and leaned back in his seat. He was able to get surprisingly comfortable in the chair and started to doze off. He nodded and shook back awake a few times but he couldn't help it. He was exhausted. He finally let himself lean all the way back in the chair, his head against the wall behind him, and fell asleep.

Rylan opened his eyes. His eyes were open but... there was nothing... nothing and then... and then something. Music? There was sound... but also motion. The thump of heavy bass. Rylan closed his eyes and shook his head. He opened them to find a blur of bright colors and motion. Steadily the scene came into clear view. A club... It was all familiar. It was all a memory. A slightly younger Rylan now stood at the edge of a bar. Leaned against it with a drink in his hand. He looked out over a sea of other club attendees chatting, dancing, and drinking. The room was pretty large. It was circular with a large dance floor in the middle. Surrounding the dance floor area was another carpeted floor that formed a ring around it. It was about 2 steps higher and was lined with tables, chairs, and bars with patrons on stools talking and laughing with one another. On the top of the room was a large screen projecting swirls and pulses of color that fluctuated with the music. Rylan turned his attention to the DJ. A white tiger about the same age as him stood behind the booth. He nodded and swayed with the beat of the song as he turned and adjusted on tons of unseen knobs and buttons. On the dance floor arms were raised and swaying, tails were swooping back and fourth from the shaking of dancers. Rylan stood his ground, leaning on the edge of the bar. His pecs slightly showing through the dark gray V neck style shirt he wore. He wore black jeans that were accented with faded white spots on the front of each leg. He looked out, completely straight faced, at everyone in the room. The place was packed. He couldn't even stand in his spot without having an elbow or shoulder brush against him occasionally. But it didn't bother him. He paid it no mind as he continued to scan the room. His eyes landed on someone. Someone who's eyes had found him a long time before. A gray and white husky sat at a table on the opposite side of the bar. With the disguise of all the faces and bodies moving back and fourth between them she had been eyeing Rylan for a while. A lynx girl who appeared to be her friend sat across from her at the table and was giggling at the sight of Rylan catching her. The husky quickly broke away to turn and giggle along with her friend. They would exchange a few words and then glance over his direction again. Rylan would look back occasionally to see them and almost every time he would catch them mid stare. But after two or three times he saw the lynx signaling for the husky to move toward him. She made a shooing motion with her hands and from what he could read from her lips she was saying something like "go talk to him". Then the husky would turn and look over her shoulder to catch a look at Rylan. But when she looked a final time he wasn't there. She quickly darted her vision around the bar he had been at. She was afraid she'd missed her chance and turned to her friend in disappointment. But the lynx was smiling and blushing a bit, looking past her friend. The husky turned to see what she was looking at to find that Rylan was just a few steps away. She couldn't help but emit a shy little grin and blush at him as he stepped up to her. "Hey" Rylan began with a confident tone. "Oh... hi" the husky replied, giving Rylan a tempting smirk. Her dark lipstick was perfectly applied and she had a pair of very nice looking earrings with small, black, spike shaped pieces hanging from them. She had a necklace with a black chain that dangled an interesting, glossy black charm. She wore a black tank top that showcased the amount of cleavage you would expect from a girl in a night club. Her hands were placed on her hips which were showcased perfectly by the tight short shorts she was wearing. Rylan took a good look at her. "Mind if I buy you a drink? Seems unusual for a girl as pretty as you to be without one at a bar. I'd be surprised if I was the first to ask." Her lynx friend covered her mouth with her hand and cracked a smile, surprised at how confident Rylan was. "Oh I'd love one thank you! And as a matter of fact you do have the honors of being first to ask tonight" she stated with a giggle. "I'm Emma by the way" she added, extending her hand out toward him. "Rylan" the two gave a quick hand shake before pulling up a chair at the table. "Oh and this is my friend Kacey" she added, gesturing toward the lynx. Kacey gave a small, shy wave to Rylan before standing up. "Well I think I'm feeling like a dance." She said as she made her way to the dance floor. Rylan and Emma sat at the table drinking and talking for a good hour. They had been so interested in their conversation that they lost track of how much they had been drinking. "Oh shit" she said glancing at her watch. It's super late and I need to go back home." She said, slurring her words a bit from the drinking they'd done. Rylan nodded and stood up preparing to leave the club. She sighed and looked up at him. "Hey I hate to ask a favor this big but... do you think you could walk me home? I don't like walking alone this late" Rylan gave it a quick thought. "Sure I don't mind at all but... what about your friend?" He inquired. Emma let out a small laugh "she left earlier... she doesn't stay out late." "Oh alright. Well I guess we should be going then." Rylan suggested. They both stood from their chairs and walked out of the club. After only a few blocks they came to an apartment. "This is it" Emma stated, walking up to one of the doors of the complex. "Great. Hey would you mind terribly if I used your restroom?" Rylan asked scratching at the back of his neck. "We kinda had a lot to drink and I dunno if I can make it back home" he laughed. "Oh of course." Emma said, guiding him into the apartment. She pointed out a door in a short hall by the living room. "It's that door there." She instructed. "Ok thank you" Rylan said with a little smile as he walked into the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

Rylan finished up in the bathroom. He washed his hands and turned to leave. When he swung the door open he was completely shocked by what he saw. Emma stood just a few feet from him. She had shed every article of clothing besides a little black thong. Her breasts hanging exposed and her every curve was perfectly visible. She had her hands on her hips and stood with one knee bent and her waist turned just enough to give Rylan a preview of her butt. "Um... Emma?" He began but was interrupted. Emma walked up to him and placed her index finger over his mouth. "I owe you for the drinks and for walking me home" she said seductively as she reached for his pants. Rylan didn't question it much. She was even cuter with nothing on. She unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. Rylan allowed them to fall to the floor along with his underwear. She wrapped one hand around his now exposed member and began to stroke him gently. After he was fully erect she gave him a little push to back him up to the wall. She slowly sank to her knees in front of him. She brought her muzzle up between his legs and ran her tongue from the base of his shaft up to his tip. Rylan let out an exhale in pleasure. He looked down at the husky who went for another lick. And another. She went on for a minute or so until she ran her tongue up his length and didn't withdraw it from his tip. Instead she opened her mouth and eased her lips around him slowly until her nose touched his lower stomach, then she slid her mouth back to the tip. She began thrusting her head back and fourth on him, sliding his entire length into her throat and back out again. Rylan let out a pleasured moan as she sped up. Emma let out small moans of her own while she worked him. Though they were strictly for his listening pleasure. Even with her canine mouth full of teeth Rylan felt nothing but smooth, wet skin and a soft, warm tongue sliding back and fourth on him. Soon she had both her hands on the back of his legs and was pulling herself hard into him. Rylan could feel himself drawing closer to climax. The sensation was amazing. Emma was amazing. He drew closer and closer until he was finally able to find his words. "Emma..." he exhaled heavily. "I'm about..." He couldn't finish his sentence but Emma understood. She ran her throat onto him as deep and as hard as she could stand a final few times. Rylan let out a loud, involuntary moan as she pulled her mouth back off of him and began to stroke his length swiftly. Every muscle in Rylan's body tensed as he hit his peak, sending a spurt of his warmth onto Emma's muzzle. Then a second streaked across her cheek. And a third onto her nose and mouth. Then finally a fourth spurted out onto her muzzle again. Rylan, now completely and utterly spent, leaned back onto the wall trying to catch his breath. Emma looked up at him with a rather cute smile. "Feel better?" She asked as one of his streaks leaked from her face onto her chest. All he could do was nod in response. "Guess I'll go clean up this little mess you made" she giggled as she stood up to go to the bathroom. "Hey that was your fault" Rylan laughed in response. "Whatever you say big guy" she added as she closed the door. Rylan put his clothes back on and took a seat on the couch waiting for Emma to join him again. She finally stepped out from the bathroom all clean. "Well I had a nice evening" he said with a little chuckle. "Me too" Emma said cheerfully. Rylan stood up and headed for the door of her apartment. "Where are you off to?" She questioned. Rylan looked back at her in confusion. "Well I was just seeing myself out" he said. "You don't wanna do all that walking again this late... just crash here" Emma suggested. "Well as long as I'm not a bother" Rylan replied in concern. "Of course not." She reassured. "You can just head out when you wake up in the morning ok?" Rylan thought on it for a bit. "Well... ok I don't have to be back home tonight anyway." He said. Emma handed him a blanket and he settled down on the couch. "Night night" Emma said as she walked into her bedroom. "Ok goodnight... thanks again" Rylan said as her bedroom door swung shut. He laid his head back and it wasn't long before he began to doze off and sleep enveloped him.

"Rylan... hey Rylan." "Ryyylaan" the sound of someone's voice and fingers snapping in front of Rylan broke him of his sleep. Slippy stood before him. "We're here" he informed. Rylan took a second to wake up fully from his short nap. He grabbed his things from the floor next to him and followed Slippy off of the shuttle.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello everyone and welcome back! My trip is over now so I should be back to publishing at a descent rate! Not much more to be said so rmember to review if you have suggestions, and follow if you wanna see more! Thanks for reading and enjoy the story!_

Chapter 5

Rylan stuck closely behind Slippy as they walked their way down the ramp leading out of the shuttle. As they stepped down onto a concrete floor Rylan looked out into the hangar they had landed in. He rubbed his eyes a bit, still not quite fully awake from his nap on the shuttle. The hangar was huge. On an elevated platform in the room there were 4 small landing pads. Atop 3 of them sat the fighters that the crew had piloted to the planet where Rylan was stranded. At the bottom of the hangar were 4 more docking bays that were quite a bit larger than the fighter platforms. The shuttle took up one of them. Rylan couldn't help but notice that one of the larger bays would probably be big enough to house the Aurora Lance. He paused from his walk behind Slippy. Would he be able to recover his ship? How long would it take to fix all the damage caused to it? Would it even be fixable? Slippy paused, noticing that Rylan was just standing now looking off into the huge room. "Pretty big isn't it?" Slippy said, snapping Rylan back into reality. Rylan shot his eyes toward Slippy hastily as he realized he'd been lost in his concern and imagination. "Pretty impressive" he said, speeding up to follow Slippy again. They finally reached the end of the room and were now standing in front of a large door. Slippy reached out and hit a button on the wall. The door slid open to reveal a small room. Lockers lined the farthest wall from them. On the wall to their left was a few weapon stands which held a small array of blasters, stun rifles, and a few other things Rylan didn't recognize. "Planning on finding some trouble?" Rylan asked, half joking but also genuinely curious. "Well..." Slippy began, knowing exactly why Rylan was asking. "Trouble seems to have a funny way of finding us." He laughed a bit and looked up at Rylan. "I feel sorry for any kind of trouble that runs up on you guys" Rylan said as he gave the weapons all a closer look. "Trouble can be rather large." Slippy joked. They shared a quick laugh before Slippy turned to walk toward a door on the opposite side of the room. Rylan followed as they exited the locker room and found themselves in a network of hallways.

Slippy rounded each turn with Rylan in tow just behind him until they came to one more door. It slid open to reveal a command room, much like the navigation room in the Aurora Lance but considerably larger. Rylan visually examined the area. He noticed Krystal and Falco standing out in front of him and Slippy. They were pointing and discussing a large hologram in the center of the room. It seemed to depict the star system they were currently in. Both of them turned their attention to Rylan and Slippy as they entered the room. "There you two are" Krystal said as they both approached. "You enjoy your nap?" Falco smirked at Rylan. "Heh... yeah." He replied, thinking about his dream. He had enjoyed his nap quite a bit. "I wasn't asleep for very long last night before you guys found me... oh by the way... how did you find me? My navigation computer told me that I landed on an uncharted planet in a largely unexplored system. Surely you didn't just happen by." The crew all have each other a quick look, surprised that Rylan didn't know. Falco was first to speak up. "I uh... I think your ship is a little smarter than you realize man." Rylan gave a confused look. "Your ship must've automatically sent an S.O.S. signal when you crashed. We picked it up for a few hours but then it shut off. Likely an attempt to preserve power. But it was long enough for Krystal here to find your coordinates and chart a route to the system." Rylan looked over at Krystal who gave him a nod and a sweet smile. He didn't even realize it but he returned the smile. She was so pretty. He had seen plenty of pretty girls before but something was different about her. He realized he'd been lost in Krystal's gaze for a few seconds and snapped back to Slippy and Falco. Then his eyes dropped to the floor. He let out a depressed sigh. The team all glanced at him. "Thank you... thank you all so much for getting me off that planet" Rylan said. He didn't look up at any of them. "I could've lasted a few days maybe, but without my ship... I was done." He was silent for a time. "Hey it's no trouble man." Falco said, giving Rylan a friendly look. "It's kind of our thing." Slippy said. The team shared a quick laugh. "I've arranged for your ship to be picked up off of that planet and taken to the repair station we saw on the map." Slippy said, looking at Rylan with a little grin. "I marked the coordinates of the crash site and contacted the station. They said they could begin repairs tomorrow if all goes well. As for completion time, it just depends on how bad the condition of the ship is..." Rylan crossed his arms and gave a frustrated look. "I bet it's gonna be weeks before they can get all that shit together again." He said. "Even if they... augh!"

Rylan let out a sound of pain and bent over a bit, grabbing at his shoulder. The team all turned their attention to the spot he was reaching for. He pulled the sleeve of his shirt up his arm and back far enough over his shoulder that the bandage was visible. It was soaked almost entirely with blood. The cut was worse than Rylan remembered but it hadn't stung like this since the crash. "Let's have a look at that." Krystal said tugging at the bottom of his shirt. She moved behind him as he slipped it the rest of the way off. Rylan whimpered a bit when she started to unwrap the bandage. All it took was a quick glimpse at the gash for her to decide he needed medical attention. "Ok let's get you to the med room." She said. Falco held the bandage on Rylans back as he followed Krystal a little ways down the hall and into a small room. It was all white with bright lights in the ceiling and there was a padded table in the center of he room. Drawers and cabinets lined one wall and a rectangular window allowed a rather pleasant view into space. Rylan hopped onto the table and Falco withdrew the cloth to reveal his wound. He cringed at the sight of the gash and backed away from Rylan. "Ok... yeah... that's blood." He said trying not to look at it. "Krystal you got this right?" He asked. "Yes you big baby." She laughed as he backed out of the room and walked down the hallway. "Ugh" he let out as the door slid shut behind him. Krystal turned to Rylan still giggling. Rylan was laughing a bit too but it was only about half because of Falcos dramatic exit. He was also laughing a bit because of how cute it was to see Krystal giggle like that. She walked around behind him and leaned over his shoulder to get a closer look at his injury. She put her hand on his wrist and made him pull the cloth away from the cut slowly. Rylan winced a bit at the pain. The blood had soaked and matted up his fur around the wound. But before that could be dealt with she had to get the cut cleaned up. "Well looks like I'm gonna need to disinfect this." She informed him. He sighed and looked over his shoulder. "Well... do what you gotta do." He told her. She hadn't noticed that his eyes were orange before. But when the light hit them they reflected a bit and turned almost golden. She admired them for a second before turning to walk back to the counter to grab the things she needed. "This stuff stings a bit..." she said looking up at him with concern. "Hell it already stings." Rylan joked with a little laugh. Krystal gave a little smile. "Just didn't want to surprise you." She moved behind him to start applying the medicine. When she moved from in front of him he was able to look out the window into the never ending space that surrounded them. After a minute or two of silence Krystal spoke up. "So how do you like the crew?" She questioned. Rylan angled his head to turn back to face her but never broke his eyes away from the window. "The guys seem really great. Slippy has been really helpful to me, and Falco seems like a pretty cool guy." He glanced back at her as she walked to the counter again. "That Krystal girl is alright I guess." He said with a bit of sarcasm. She shot him a quick look and raised her eyebrows. "Not a big fan huh?" She smirked at him. "Well I guess she's ok for a fox." He replied as he turned his gaze back out to window. She giggled a bit and moved behind him again. She pressed a spongy pad against his cut. He exerted a small, involuntary whimper as she held it there for a second. The disinfectant burned his cut intensely for a moment but the stinging subsided little by little. By the time Krystal was done wrapping the wound back up it only tingled a bit. "There you are." She said as she started to put the supplies away again. Rylan ran his hand across the back of his shoulder. "Thank you. I appreciate this a lot." He said before turning his attention to the window again. He stood there for a minute, holding his shirt in his hand, just staring out the window into the emptiness of space. "You're quite welcome." Krystal said. She heard him stop moving and turned to look over her shoulder at him. She paused for a bit, running her eyes up and down a distracted and shirtless Rylan. He was very toned. Defined pectoral muscles. Perfectly shaped abs. Muscular, but not super large, arms. Nothing about him was really large or heavy looking. He wasn't muscular like a bodybuilder. He was just obviously in tremendous shape. He finally broke his gaze from the window to look down and begin putting his shirt back on. Part of Krystal was disappointed that he did. She realized she'd been staring and turned her attention back to the counter. She washed her hands after everything was put back up.

There was a noise. A small ringing from a speaker on the ceiling in the corner of the room. "Hey guys come eat." Said Slippy over the intercom. It buzzed a bit then shut off. "Hungry?" Krystal said, glancing at Rylan. "Yeah!" Rylan said enthusiastically. He hadn't eaten anything besides the dried snacks on the Aurora Lance in two days.

Krystal and Rylan walked through a few more halls before coming to a room with a large circular table in the middle. On the back wall were cabinets, a refrigerator, oven, microwave. Everything you could need to cook anything was there. "Theres not much this ship doesn't have is there?" Rylan said as he followed Krystal into the room. Falco was already seated at the table. Rylan took a seat close to him. "How's that shoulder feeling bud?" Falco asked as Rylan pulled up his chair. "Much better." Rylan answered. "Krystal here is pretty good at patching people up." "Well when you do what we do someone has to know how." Falco laughed. Slippy walked over to them all holding plates of food he'd prepared. "And slip here knows his way around the kitchen really well." Falco added as Slippy slid everyone's plates in front of them. For himself and Falco he had made what appeared to be some stew or soup of some kind. Rylan and Krystal, being naturally carnivorous, received a hunk of cooked meat with a few vegetables. Rylan cooked for himself on his ship but he wasn't skilled enough to prepare food like this. "Thanks" he smiled at Slippy as he cut off a piece. His face lit up as he took the first bite. It was fantastic. Rylan looked up from his meal. "This is awesome!" Rylan said before taking another bite. "Thanks. I was hoping you'd like it." Slippy said proudly. They all sat and ate for a time, not speaking. Rylan was still a tad shy about the crew. He kept his head down and ate silently as the others began to make small talk about past missions and life on the Great Fox. Rylan would watch back and fourth as they cut the occasional joke and laughed together, sometimes making Rylan laugh too.

Krystal was the first to finish her meal. She stood from the table and took her dishes over to the counter and placed them in the sink. "You boys play nice." She joked "I'm going to run some system checks." She walked past the table and headed for the door they had come through before. Rylan watched her as she passed him. She was still in her combat suit. It held tightly onto every last one of her flawless curves as she stepped across the room. Once she was past him Rylan couldn't help himself. His eyes fell right to her behind. He watched as her hips popped up and down with every step, bouncing her perfect butt back and fourth... And that long, beautiful tail. So perfectly brushed, soft looking, gorgeous blue with that cute white spot at the tip. Rylan had no clue how obvious he was while he traced her out of the room. He didn't break his vision from her until she walked completely out of his line of sight. The door slid shut behind her as she stepped out into the hall. Rylan didn't take his eyes from the door for several seconds. When he finally looked back to the table he saw Falco looking right at him with a comical grin on his face, fighting back laughter. Slippy had a funny smile too as he looked at Rylan. When he realized they had watched him stare Krystal up and down as she left his face turned red. "You like what you see buddy?" Falco said as he finally released his laughter. Slippy giggled a bit with him but withheld as much as he could in an attempt to spare Rylans feelings. Rylan lowered his head a bit and couldn't help but start to laugh a little at himself. He looked back up at Falco and shrugged. "Guess I'm not about to be able to lie to you about that." He said. The three of them spent a few seconds just laughing. After they all calmed down from their laughter Falco looked back at Rylan. "Trust me I don't blame you. That's the best looking chick in the solar system." "Easily the best looking one I've ever seen." Rylan replied. Falco leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Bet you've seen some lookers in your day huh?" Rylan gave him a quizzical look. "What makes you think that?" He said glancing at Slippy who was still eating. "Cmon man look at you!" Falco went on. "A young, fit, good looking guy. A fox nonetheless. Not sure why but ladies seem to dig the canines. Think they're a little more... aggressive" he laughed. Rylan gave a shy laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well back when I was in the academy and for a few years after I graduated I guess I had my fair share of fun." He admitted, looking off to the side. "Ahhh there it is." Falco said with a big smile. "So... how many?" Falco said in a lighter voice as he leaned in toward Rylan. "How many?" Rylan responded, sounding confused. "Cmon you know... how many girls have you been with?" He said with a smirk. Rylan laughed a bit and leaned back. He looked away for a bit. "Well..." he spoke, trying to remember everything he could. Just the fact that he had to think about it made Falco and Slippy shoot each other a look. They both looked back at Rylan. He thought for a bit longer. "I guess it's probably somewhere around... maybe 15?" He said doubting his memory a little. "Shiiiiit!" Falco said as he leaned back. Slippy shot his gaze back and fourth between the two in shock. "Fifteen?" Falco said slowly. "Eh more or less but yeah it's gotta be something like that... to be honest with you I'm not super proud of it. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun" he said with a chuckle. "You'll have to tell me some stories later man." Falco said. He stood up, gathered his dishes together, and headed for the sink. Slippy had already dropped his in the sink and was headed out of the room. "Well good talk guys. I'll seeya in the morning. Should be coming up on that station not long after we get up." "Sounds good Slip. We'll see you in the morning." Falco said as Slippy exited the room. "Later Slippy." Rylan added as the door slid shut behind him. He placed his dishes in the sink with the rest of them. Falco was leaning back on the counter with his arms crossed looking over at Rylan. "They show you what room you'll be staying in while you're with us?" He said. Rylan shook his head. "Didn't realize I was getting a room" he said in surprise. "Oh yeah the Great Fox is made to house a lot of crew members." Falco informed as he started for the doorway. Rylan followed him out and down the hallway. Learning all of these halls may take a while. They came up on a sliding door. Falco hit the button on the side and it slid open. Rylans jaw nearly fell to the floor when he saw what was inside. The room was huge! It had a main level and a small loft level up a little spiral staircase where a bed and dresser were. One wall of the room was almost entirely made of glass allowing an incredible view of space. There was a half-moon shaped couch in the center of the room and it had a small, circular coffee table in the middle. In one corner there was a large mirror on the wall with some exercise equipment in front of it. Next to that was a door leading to the bathroom. "This is where I'm staying!?" Rylan said to Falco in shock. "Yeah dude... only the best on the Great Fox. All of our rooms look like this. Well they aren't the same but they're all this nice." Rylan scanned over the room for a minute. "This is awesome. I don't know how I'm ever going to thank all of you enough for this." Falco shrugged. "We like helping people. It's what our team is about." They both stood there for a second examining the room. "Well I guess I'll leave you to it." Falco said. He gave Rylan a single pat on the back and turned for the door. "Oh hey Rylan" he said as he reached the door. Rylans ears perked up and he turned to face Falco. "You gotta tell me one of those stories some time alright?" He laughed. Rylan gave a little half-smile, nodded and turned back to the room. Falco walked out of the room and down the hall. The door slid shut behind him. Rylan looked over to see his belongings sitting by the staircase. "Guess R.O.B. dropped these off for me." He carried his stuff up the small flight of stairs. He put what little clothes he had in the dresser. He laid his rifle up on top of it along with his wallet and keycard for the Aurora Lance. He sat on the edge of the bed for a time. Thinking about his ship and how long it would be before it would be operational again. He reached up for the light switch and noticed it had several little settings. It was definitely different from a normal light switch. The lights could dim! Rylan laughed a bit. "This room just keeps on surprising me." He said to himself. He set the lights on the lowest they would go. The dim lights coupled with the view of space really made for a very pleasant view. He stripped down to his boxers and slid on some athletic shorts he liked to sleep in. He crawled into the bed and pulled the blanket over him. Another pleasant surprise... it was extremely comfortable. He laid back and let out a long sigh of comfort. His eyes fell shut and after just a few minutes he slipped into a deep, relaxed sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello once again everyone. I am very sorry for the delay in posting but I have had some internet issues for the past few days. Not much to say here so I'll just get right into it. Enjoy the story everyone and as always, review if you have any suggestions and thank you for taking the time to read my fic!_

Chapter 6

Rylan shook awake from his peaceful sleep. For no particular reason he had woken up in the middle of the night. Or at least it felt like he did. He rolled over to face his night stand. The clock confirmed that it was 2:32 A.M. Rylan sat up in his bed. He rubbed his eyes a bit before standing up and walking down the stairs. He went across the room to the door on the opposite end. He swung the bathroom door open. At this point it didn't come as much of a surprise that the bathroom was super nice like the rest of the Great Fox. There was a large bath tub in the center of the back wall. In the left there was a standing shower with the usual distorted clear plastic walls. To his right in the closest corner was a little privacy stall. He shuffled sleepily toward it after looking around at the room a bit. After he was done he stepped back into his room. He stopped before going back up the stairs. "Kinda thirsty." He said to himself. He wasn't sure if he could even find the kitchen again. He decided he was thirsty enough to try and find it. He stepped out into the hall and made a left. He remembered that much for sure. He came to a four way intersection next but passed straight through it. One good thing about the Great Fox was that the lights seemed to be on all the time. He found his way back to the kitchen after a while. He stepped in, leaving the door open, and walked over to the cabinets. After opening and shutting a few of them he found some drinking glasses. He went to the refrigerator and got some water. He filled the glass one time and stood in front of the fridge as he drank every bit. He went back to refill the glass and took a few sips before turning around to go back to his room.

He nearly jumped out of his fur when he turned to face the door. Without making any noise at all Krystal had slipped into the room behind him. "Oh!... uh... hey Krystal." he let out, now short of breath from being startled so badly. Krystal giggled a little at his reaction. "Hi Rylan." She responded. She was now wearing a night gown. It was black and ran down from her shoulders to about halfway down her thighs. Her beautiful blue tail swung from underneath it and it showed off her curves quite nicely. "How is someone even that good looking!?" Rylan thought to himself. Or at least he believed he only thought it to himself. This was the second time Krystal had read his mind. The first was when they encountered each other on the desert planet. Although she had done it then to make sure he had no intentions of harming the team. This time it was just curiosity. She blushed a bit in response to his thoughts about her. He looked at her a bit confused. "Getting something to drink?" Rylan asked. "Yeah" she confirmed to him as she stepped toward the cabinet to get a glass of her own. She turned her back to him and held her cup as the water filled it. "Guess you were thirsty too huh?" She asked him, not breaking her vision from the glass. "Heh... yeah I was." He responded. He looked over at her as she faced away from him to hold the glass. "Hey thanks again by the way... you know for fixing up my shoulder." She turned back toward him. She smiled the sweetest smile that Rylan had ever seen. It was so sincere... so true. She was so beautiful. "You're very welcome Rylan" she said. It was sweet but a tad bit sensual as well. Her words shot a shiver up Rylans spine. He smiled back at her. "Guess I'll be headed back to bed. Goodnight Krystal." "Sweet dreams Rylan." She said as he turned to exit the room. She watched him leave and took a sip of her water.

Rylan slid the door open to his room and walked in. He stepped back up the stairs, set the glass of water on the night stand, and fell over onto the bed again. He couldn't stop thinking about Krystal. Her long beautiful tail. Her cute face and soft, beautiful, blue eyes. He lost himself in his thoughts of her and faded further and further until he fell into a pleasant sleep.

Rylan woke up in the morning to the sound of the intercom system again. Slippys voice rang out from the speaker in the ceiling. "Hey everyone we're nearing the station. About 45 minutes to go." Rylan stayed laying down for a few minutes. He didn't want to leave the soft warmth of the bed. After 5 minutes or so I got up and out of the bed. He rummaged around in the dresser trying to find a shirt to put on. He found a short sleeve button-up shirt. It was black with a gray plaid pattern on it. He wore it with the top button undone. He didn't like the way it felt all tight on his neck. He threw on his pants and a pair of shoes the team had been nice enough to leave in his room for him. He went down the stairs and into the hall. Only one problem... Where the hell is the nav room? Rylan looked to his right, then left. He looked back and fourth thinking as hard as he could about where he'd been before. He decided to go right even though he hadn't been this way before. He remembered the kitchen was to the left but that's all he knew. He finally came to a door that looked similar to what he remembered the nav room door looking like. He hit the button and the door slid open. A shirtless Falco looked up at the door in surprise. They both stood there for a second, not sure who should speak first. "Hey man you seem like a nice guy and all... but I'm afraid I'm into girls." Falco said cracking a smile. "Well damn I had to at least try." Rylan said jokingly. They both shared a hysterical laugh. "Ok but really man where is the nav room? I'm lost as all hell and all these doors look the same." Rylan said. "Oh just keep following the hall, then take a right and it's on the left. Now get outta here I gotta get dressed" Falco laughed. "Ok thanks man." Rylan said as he stepped back into the hall. He walked faster and more confidently now that he knew where he was going. He slid the door open to the nav room and walked inside. Slippy was dressed casually like Rylan. Some pants and a t-shirt. To Rylans surprise they were the only two who were in the nav room. "Hey Rylan." He said, chipper as always. "How's it going Slippy?" Rylan asked, shooting him a smile in return. "All is according to planned. Should only be about 30 minutes till we get to the station. And they have your ship!" Rylans ears perked up and he smiled a bit when he heard that. The door slid open. Both Rylan and Slippy shot their attention to it. Falco stepped in. "Hey guys." He greeted. Rylan nodded at him. "Hey bud." Slippy gave a little wave. "Morning Falco." The team stood around the nav computer looking at a hologram of the station they were approaching. "Looks like a pretty big station." Rylan observed. Slippy nodded. "It has a big repair bay, a full sized trading post and market, and it houses almost 2,000 people." "Damn it must have a good income source to stay operational." Falco said as he crossed his arms and leaned against a control desk. The door slid open again and everyone turned their attention to it. Krystal came stepping in, gorgeous as always. She wore some tight jeans that left a little to the imagination but not much. Her shirt was a V neck style with shoulder high sleeves. It fell just below her belly button, allowing a small bit of her white-furred stomach to show. As she stepped into the room and up to the hologram Falco elbowed Rylan on the arm. Rylan shot Falco a look but couldn't help but crack a smile at what he had done. "Morning boys" she said to them as she stood over by Slippy. "Morning." They both shot back to her in unison. They exchanged an awkward glance in response. It made Krystal giggle a little. "How far out are we Slippy?" She asked, turning her attention to the preoccupied toad. His eyes were glued to the ships controls. "We're just about at drop distance." He finally replied. "Drop distance?" Rylan said, giving a confused look. Slippy looked up at him. "Oh... yeah the Great Fox is too big for any of their docking bays so we'll have to suspend it in automated orbit around the station and take the shuttle in." Rylan nodded. "Should be settling from hyper jump soon..." Slippy said looking out the front cockpit windows of the Great Fox. About twenty seconds went by and the starry blur out the windows slowed to a halt in an instance. The station was visible once the ship slowed. Nearby small mining ships were shooting lasers into asteroids, sucking precious minerals from their insides. "There's your income source." Rylan said pointing to the mining ships. They darted back and fourth from the station depositing the minerals they collected from the asteroids that were drifting by the station. "Initiating orbit... ok everybody lets head to the shuttle." Slippy said as he moved to leave the room. "R.O.B. Take care of this thing till we get back will ya?" Slippy spoke into a device on his wrist. "Affirmative" R.O.B. Returned as they approached the hangar door. The four of them stepped out into the hangar and got onto the shuttle. "Alright guys lets go check this place out." Slippy said as he piloted the shuttle up and out of the bay of the Great Fox. The shuttles engines whirred and it shot toward the station.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi there once again readers! I'm sure that many of you at this point may have lost hope in my story being completed. But I am still committed to finishing this thing off! I won't bore you with personal details so lets get right to it. Enjoy the next chapter everyone! And as always thank you for taking time to read my fic!_

Chapter 7

The small craft buzzed along slowly through the asteroid field toward the large station. It was huge. The lights of the station were bright and seemed to almost compete with the brilliant glow of the nearby star. The field was full of the small mining ships buzzing back and fourth. Each one hovering up to an asteroid before using arm-like attachments so secure themselves to it. Then the ships would charge up and unleash a concentrated cutting beam into the asteroid. Once they where depleted of their resources most of them would shatter in an impressive and rather entertaining manner."What could they be pulling from the rocks out here?" Falco asked, his arms crossed as he leaned against a wall and watched out a window to the side. "Nickel?..." Rylan spoke up, also watching the ship. "...Or maybe titanium?" The crew sat watching for a bit as the ship emptied the asteroid and detached before heading to the next one. "Scans just show aluminum." Slippy said, looking at some readings on the control console. Rylan gave a surprised look. "Aluminum? That couldn't possibly be worth that much." "Maybe not..." Slippy replied, "but the starship parts they make out of it probably are." The crew seemed to accept this answer and not much more was said until they came in for their landing.

The shuttle eased through a bluish see-through wall. It was a large field of powerful energy strong enough to keep the oxygen inside and the unrelenting suction of space out. The ship floated toward an available platform and sat down with accuracy and grace. The crew exchanged a quick glance before moving toward the exit door. The exit ramp slid down to the surface of the landing pad. The crew walked out of the shuttle and stepped down to the main floor. Rylan looked all around as ships both big and small entered and exited the large bay. So many ships floating in and out of the station. Strange to think about how so many different people gather at this spot in the middle of nowhere.

"How's it going?" A voice said, snapping Rylan out of his daze. The crew turned their attention to a young raccoon walking up to them. He was holding a little glass electronic device that had what seemed to be a spreadsheet of names and money amounts. "Hello." Slippy returned with a friendly smile. They exchanged a quick handshake. "How many days are you looking to keep it here?" The raccoon said, gesturing toward the shuttle. "Oh uh... just today." Slippy answered. The two talked a bit more and slippy payed the docking fee. The raccoon told them where they could find the repair bay and the market before turning to leave. "Well lets go see about that ship of yours." Krystal said, turning to face Rylan. He smiled a bit simply at the thought of seeing the Aroura Lance again. Just these two days had been the longest he'd gone without the ship before. "Sounds like a plan." He said. "You two go on ahead." Slippy suggested. "Me and Falco here are gonna go get some fuel and supplies for the Great Fox." He pointed to a small kiosk at the other side of the landing bay where people were placing orders for fuel, ammunition, and raw materials for their ships. "Alright sounds good." Krystal returned. "We'll meet back here in two hours." She said as she stepped over next to Rylan. "Sounds good." Falco replied as he and Slippy turned to leave. Krystal turned to face Rylan. "Guess we better get moving. You're probably anxious to see your ship again." She stated. They turned and headed toward the door. "For sure!" Rylan said, outpacing Krystal as they strolled laughed a bit to herself at Rylans crazed preocupation with his ship. it was almost... kind of cute.

They reached the door at the edge of the hangar. It was large and made of what looked to be solid steel. At least 8" thick, maybe more. Rylan was impressed with the ingenuity it must've taken to build such a big and advanced station. The large door detected them and slid open as they neared it. In the next corridor there was a small array of signs on the ceiling. Each pointing down a different hallway. The market and food district was up ahead. The ship service hangar was to the right. Finally to the left was the maintenance and janitorial rooms. The two hung a right and began following the long hallway that circled the entire station. Some of the people in the station would give Krystal a second look when they passed by. Some because they recognized her from the Starfox team and others because she was probably the most beautiful girl they'd ever laid eyes on. Rylan strolled alongside her, present in his physical form but absent in his mind. A thousand questions seemed to wash him away from everything that he was seeing. "What if they can't fix it?" This was the most frightening of the thoughts he had. He would momentarily become distracted by Krystal. Looking over at her as they walked but trying not to make himself obvious. The seperate situations were weighing heavily upon his mind. On one hand he's on his way to find out whether or not his prized posession even exists anymore. On the other hes walking alongside an insanely beautiful woman that he barely knows... but something about her. The way she carries herself. And the warmth and trust she seems to place in Rylan while knowing so little about him. He felt as though she was very trustworthy. Like a part of him already knew her so well.

After a few more minutes the two finally came to another large door. The holographic sign at the top read "Maintenance Bay". The door slid open as they approached. Upon stepping inside the large bay both Rylan and Krystal were awestruck at what they saw. Dozens of ships of all different sizes were sitting on landing pads all throughout the hangar. Some were stripped down to almost nothing, and others simply had a single part pulled off. Rylan scanned the room hoping to recognize one of the ships he saw. He bolted his vision frantically throughout the massive bay. Suddenly he saw something, on the upper deck. "I think that's it!" He said to Krystal in an excited voice. He stepped on to the catwalk and hurried up the stairs to where the ship was laying. The black starship was sitting at an angle on the platform with one leg of the landing gear holding up a side while the other sat on the wing. Rylan let out a short sigh, though it sounded more like a whimper. His heart sank all over again at the sight of his ship. It was twisted, shattered, and scratched so badly. Rylan approached the craft and ran his hand down the hull. The hard steel was cold against his palm but contained a warm familiarity. Krystal stopped behind him. She could almost feel his emotion, his rush of excitement and despair for his ship. She thought it to be a bit strange for someone to be this attached to something like that, but what she sensed within him was very real. This ship was more than just something he flew and worked in. There was a strange connection between him and the ship. Rylan, the Aurora Lance, and... another thing. Something absent from the current equation. Krystal's thoughts were broken by the appearance of a large rhino that stepped up to them, striking her and Rylan in a bit of disbelief. He was tall and astoundingly broad.

"Something I can help y'all with?" He questioned in a deep but surprisingly friendly voice. Rylans ears flicked a bit as he glanced over to Krystal, then back over to the massive rhino. "This is my ship." Rylan explained. "Well... half of my ship..." he trailed off. He hadn't even noticed to this point that the Lance was cut in half. He stared at it for a long second before returning his focus to the rhino, who was now giving him a concerning look. "What happened to the rest of her?" Rylans voice began to slip down to the back of his throat as his fear grew. Krystal stayed put, a look of slight confusion on her face, as she waited along with Rylan to hear the rhinos explanation. "Well we got the report..." he began, seeming to know that Rylan would not like what he was going to hear. "An interceptor style ship incapable of self propulsion. Heavily damaged, in need of parts and body repairs." He took a paper from a file he was holding and handed it to Rylan. Rylan glossed over the page with deep concern as the rhino continued. "So it was so badly damaged that it would've been easier to chop it and bring it in two separate pieces. It was pretty much already cut in half." He explained. "Well my crew had the second piece and was on the way back when they radioed me about incoming ships. They underwent a sub space scan and some ships warped into their vicinity. They came under fire and when they realized what the pirates wanted I instructed them to surrender the ship to them. The pirates had a carrier grab the half of the ship and they warped off with it." He shared a look with both Rylan and Krystal before speaking again. "I'm extremely sorry... but I couldn't risk the lives of my crewmen for a starship so I told them to..." "no no no." Rylan interrupted "I would never ask someone to risk a life for a ship. That's fine. I'm just... where did they go with it?" Rylan pleaded. Already sure that he wasn't going to get an answer from the rhino. "I'm not sure... crew says the ships didn't look familiar so we wouldn't even know where to start looking." The news shattered Rylan all over again. "Now if you managed to get it here me and my guys have everything we would need to get her up and running again. But for the time being there's nothing I can do with half a ship." He was clearly trying his best to be delicate toward Rylan. He could see that it was a big deal to him. Rylan thought for a minute and turned to face the rhino again. The two shook ands and Rylan gave a sincere "thank you" to the large rhino before they turned to leave the hangar.

The two stepped back into the large corridor on the other side of the hangars door. Rylan moved over toward a wall and leaned forward against it with one hand. The other was clutching the report paper the mechanic had given him. Krystal stood behind him, watching as he leaned against the wall and fought off a fit of tears as hard as he could. She could hear him repeating something under his breath. "I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry..." Krystal observed in confusion and concern. Who was he apologizing to? She could almost make out a name in his quiet murmurs. He finally glanced back at her over his shoulder. He gave her a look as though he'd forgotten that she was with him. "I'm sorry I just... I'm a little upset over this news." Krystal took a few steps up toward him. "It's alright Rylan." She said placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll figure something out." She assured him. Rylan looked back over to his side at the blue vixen. Her bright eyes seemed to contain an entire world within them. Casting their warmth and sincerity onto him. Her radiant blue and white fur flowed beautifully with her every move. Rylan gave her the warmest smile he'd likely ever given anyone. He fell headlong into his thoughts of the beautiful girl standing before him. Krystal blushed a bit at Rylans warm, friendly gaze. The two had unconsciously turned to face one another and now stood just inches apart, sharing this sweet moment that they had initiated without any thought. Krystal leaned in and her arms met behind Rylans back. Their chests pressed together as Rylan returned the embrace. Rylan let out a long sigh of comfort. The embrace of someone who clearly cared for him and his feelings was an overwhelming breath of fresh air. Krystal rested her head on Rylans shoulder as she ran her right hand up and down his back, trying to provide as much comfort and soothe as much of his grief as she could. The two stood hugging one another for a few seemingly infinite moments before they pulled back from one another. They shared a short glance of disbelief. Rylan scratched the back of his neck as he snapped back into reality. Krystal looked at the ground still blushing with the cutest smile on her face. Neither of the two were positive what had just taken place between them but they both found themselves unable to deny how real it had been. Krystal looked up at Rylan and finally broke the awkward silence between them. "Well.. we still have an hour. Wanna go get a bite to eat?" She suggested. Rylan wasted no time accepting the offer. Now that she had mentioned it he remembered he was starving. The two turned and strolled alongside one another, still shaken from the intense connection they had just made. They felt much more comfortable walking with each other now. More confident in themselves and their trust for one another. Perhaps there is more to this than they had first thought.


End file.
